Liquid dishwashing compositions having good grease removal benefits are much desired by consumers and therefore it is necessary that these compositions should comprise effective surfactant systems. Such effective surfactant systems often combine different surfactants, and a particularly effective surfactant system combines amine oxides with alkyl alkoxy sulphate surfactants, in significant amounts.
However the use of that surfactant systems in significant amounts presents a problem of low temperature instability. Indeed we have found that with products which comprise an effective amount of that surfactant system, a white solid precipitates when the product is subjected to low temperature. That process progresses throughout the whole product if low temperature is maintained and this phenomenon results in consumers being unable to dispense and use the product. The problem seems to be even more acute when the composition further comprises cations in general, and magnesium salts in particular, which are particularly desirable for performance.
This low temperature instability phenomenon is even more of a problem for products which are formulated as clear liquids, which is particularly desirable from the point of view of consumer acceptance. Indeed the above phenomenon results in the progressive clouding of the composition, eventually resulting in complete opacity, which is unacceptable from the consumers' standpoint.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a detergent composition which comprises an effective amount of a surfactant system comprising an amine oxide and an alkyl alkoxy sulphate surfactant, and which is stable at low temperature.
In response, we have now found that this problem can be solved by providing the composition with a certain amount of a branched alkyl alkoxy sulphate surfactant. Indeed, the use of this branched material addresses the problem of low temperature instability, even in compositions comprising cations, enabling also the formulation of clear products which remain clear at low temperature.